The Ranch
by BloodyAngel93
Summary: Edward Cullen was abusive and after a one night stand with Bella he left her crying. Pregnant and scared she ran away only to have 6 kids nine months later. Years later the cullens find her on a ranch in Wyoming and they learn the truth about everything.
1. Chapter 1

When I had decided to leave Forks, Washington without anyone's knowledge I did it in hopes of making everything easier for everyone. Edward had already left and the pieces of my broken heart were left scattered mindlessly around for anyone to step on. But weeks had passed and my period still had not come. Now this might not have been that unusual but it just so happened that the night before Edward had left me we had slept together. Just my luck, the luck of Bella Swan to be pregnant with a vampire's child. I had decided to leave the sleepy rainy town in order to not have to tell Dr. Carlisle that his first son had slept with a girl, left her, but not before he had knocked her up. There was no reason to make him or his wife feel as if they needed to take care of me because of their son's actions and the consequences they had left.

I knew I would miss Charlie after all he was my father but my life had been shrouded in secrets, lies, and mystery since I had decided to come and live with him so many years ago, so I knew my disappearance though would cause him pain wouldn't be a huge shock. As for my mother well I had feared her rejection when she had found out that her only daughter had made the same mistake she had.

That had been a little over eight months before and the worries that filled my mind as I had sat in a small town hospital in labor were past those of teenage heart break and hurt. It had been a shock to find out that I was not only having one child but six. I was eighteen years old with six kids on the way. That is the luck of Bella Swan. I did not know what my kids would be....More human then vampire or more vampire then human. Whatever they were born I knew it could either reveal the whole world of mythological creatures or let them remain nothing but a fairytale. I feared for the lives of my old family, I feared for my own, but most importantly I feared for my unborn children.

The pain that ripped through my body at each contraction made me scream in agony and wish no matter the consequence for them to be out of me if only for the pain to stop. My doctor had tried to give me pain medication but they hadn't put a dent in the pain and when he suggested an epidural I told him to go screw himself. I didn't know how those type of drugs would do to my kids after all it would be my luck for it to have a bad reaction to them or my body and my kids would bear the consequences.

The doctor finally came in after 29 and a half hours of being in labor and told me I was ready to push. The thirty minutes that ensued of pushing, me screaming, and the words of encouragement that fell on my deaf ears, were the longest minutes of my life. People have said that the nine months or so and the pain of labor is all worth it when you hear the first cries of your baby, until then I hadn't believed them. But they had been right. The first scream would forever be imprinted into my mind and all the ones that followed it until the very last had a special place in my heart that was completely their own.

I smiled as the doctor told me they were all doing well and that they were all miraculously a healthy weight despite how many of them their had been in the womb. He had also said that in two or three days they along with myself would be able to leave though I shouldn't drive. They never knew that I would have to, that I had no one I could rely on. It was a lonely feeling and a lonely life I entered into when I had found out about me being pregnant. It was the life I had chosen, the life that had been my only choice, the life I was now stuck with.

The day arrived when I was allowed to leave and after a few white lies I had all of my children loaded up into my van which was able to sit three car seats in the first row and three more in the back plus the driver and passenger seat. The pain one feels after giving birth naturally to six kids and then driving against doctors orders is pain I wish to never experience again.

I was staying at the Old Ranch where a kind and elderly man had allowed me to stay. He was checking himself into the nursing home saying that things were getting to hard for him to do on his own. When I had moved to Jackson, Wyoming I hadn't really thought of it as a place to settle down merely a rest stop on the road, the road to where was anyone's guess. But when I had arrived I immediately fell in love with the vast expanse of land. From the mountains to the plains...there was a majestic glow about them. Something that called out to me in an almost primal way. But as years would pass and the vampire in my children would become more dominant I knew that I would have to leave, I would have to go someplace cloudy, rainy so as to be able to hide what my children truly were.

6 years had passed and my children were now seven years of age. A lot had happened in those six years. Caleb, Aaron, Aiden, Akira, Jayden, and Makayla had all grown up fast and were now about to turn eight. In those Six years I had been turned into a vampire by Adien, who had grown more quickly then the others and therefore had a 14 year olds body with a 14 year olds mind but a six year olds experience. He had bit me when he was only a weeks days old but had already had, had teeth. After he had done it he knew he had done something wrong and so he sat with me and took care of me and his siblings for the four days I was changing. It took longer because it was only one small bite on my finger and his venom had still not reached its full potency. Aiden already was able to do most things that toddlers would only just be learning to do and he looked like an older toddler.

After my transformation I found that I had the ability to make people not notice anything. The sky could be falling on them and they would not notice it, the person beside them could be shot down and they would continue on as if nothing had happened, because while under my influence nothing happened that I didn't want to happen. It was for this reason that we had been able to stay in Jackson, Wyoming. Aiden sparkled in the sun like all vampires do and Akira glowed but no one was the wiser of it when they came into contact with the humans thanks to me. Though I still feared that one day I would slip and our existence would be known to them. So far though my control had not slipped and for that I was grateful.

I had never expected to be a mother of six kids let alone be that and a rancher in a sense. The house we now lived in had a huge barn with four horses, a cow, two dogs, and a lonely old cat. Thomas Camden, the man who had let me live in the house had passed away two months after my kids turned six. He had updated his will before he had died that had left me and my kids the sole heirs to everything he owned. He was from an old family with old money and when he was 19 or so he had moved to Jackson in rebellious act against his father. His father gave him his share of his money and told him to never come back but when his father had died he left all his money to his only son. And so that money helped keep the ranch going, for I had grown fond of all the animals and in turn as my kids grew older so had they. And the money I got from my paintings that were sold locally was enough to support my family's needs.

"Do not touch my hair!" I was pulled out of my reminiscing thoughts by the sound of my oldest daughter screams. I sighed as my sensitive ears began to ache at the sound. I walked out of the kitchen and down a hallway before I reached the stairs that lead up to the second story. On the stairs was Akira and Aaron who were both staring at each other in a fierce battle of wills.

Akira was stunningly beautiful with long blonde hair that formed loose curls that cascaded down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were a strikingly deep blue that held the power to captivate any who looked into them. She loved fashion, loved shopping, and could be self centered, but also fiercely loyal to those she loved and cared about. She was the type that she could call one of her siblings stupid but no one else could.

Aaron was raven haired and had very defined features for one so young In his teenage years I had no doubt that he would be a heartbreaker. He was the prankster of the family and the only human boy. But he had a way with people that always made them want to laugh and smile, because he was always laughing and smiling. But there was a darker side to him and though he was the most human boy the vampire in him gifted him with the power to distort and manipulate sound to the point of paralyzing someone. Luckily he had a good control over it and only lost that control when he was angry or upset.

Aaron had his left arm outstretched as if he were about to grab Akira's hair again but it was immobile in the air. Suspended as if it were stuck innocently there. But I knew and so did Akira that it was a threat that he would mess with her hair again if she even gave him the slightest chance.

"Aaron put that hand down right now mister." I told him in my best mother voice that oozed the message 'I've caught you doing something wrong and I'm not happy.' A triumphant gleam reached Akira's eyes as she stared victoriously back at him.

"But Mom we were only playing!" He whined piteously knowing the game was up but still not being able to admit defeat. I fought a smile keeping my face impassive.

"Oh really? It doesn't seem like your sister is having any fun, now does it?" I raised an eyebrow at him as he glanced at his sister, saw her glare and began to shift uneasily. He shook his head mournfully. "No she doesn't. So how about you to both go out to the barn and help clean." They both sighed before walking out resigned to the fact that it hadn't been a request.

Everyone else was already out there cleaning under the watchful gazes of Aiden and Caleb. Aiden would be able to stop any accidents from occurring and Caleb would be able to keep the animals calm.

Pulling on my boots I made my way out the door and toward the barn that was a good 25 yards away from the house. It was a huge barn but the paint was peeling to the point that it now looked as if it had never been painted. We had 150 acres of land and between Aiden, Caleb, and myself we were able to maintain all the fencing and other things that went along with keeping the ranch working. The house itself needed maintenance with painting and the side porch that was beginning to cave in but other then that is was in pretty good shape.

I was in love with mountainous land with its sprawling valleys. And I hoped that I was never forced to leave this place fore it had become my home in a more solidified way then that of Phoenix or Forks. This place was where my children had been born, where I had went from a confused girl to a young woman. I had grown up in this place and I was proud of what I had become. As I stared at my kids I couldn't help but notice all there differences that made them so completely themselves.

Aiden was brown haired with natural blond highlights. He was in a fourteen year olds body while almost everyone else was in their natural age body of seven. His eyes were golden, the color of a vegetarian vampire. In fact the only thing that was still human about him was his slow beating heart. That beat 20 to 30 times a minute. He was the man of the house in a sense and he helped me keep everything running smoothly.

Caleb was an earth speaker. He was the only completely blond boy in the family and his hair fell in natural curls around his face. His eyes were a vivid blue that were so deep that it felt as if once you stared into them you were hypnotized. But he was also the outcast of the family. He preferred the wilderness then people, he preferred the conversation of the trees and animals then that of his siblings. He felt everything's emotions humans, vampires, animals, plants, water, and earth. But he loved his family deeply I had no doubt about that he just wasn't very good at handling all the emotions that people projected and thus tried to stay out of their way.

Jayden was the researcher. She always wanted to know how things worked and why they worked while other things didn't. She could go for weeks taking apart and putting together radios and once even a toaster. Her eyes were a seaweed green and they were known for being able to pull off some of the most impressive glares that I had ever seen. She didn't like being in the spotlight she preferred to sit in the background and observe everyone else.

Makayla was my youngest and she was the most human girl. Her body was that of a five year old and she still wasn't able to pronounce correctly some letters causing most of her words to be said wrong. Unfortunately for her and everyone she had inherited my clumsiness and fell at least ten times a day. Her eyes were brown and her hair was brown and she looked like the carbon copy of myself when I was her age. She was the tomboy she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty out in the barn or in the pastures. She would try anything once and always tried to be nice to everyone. She was closest to Aiden and I figured it made sense in a way that the youngest would be attached tot he oldest and vice versa.

Everyone stopped and looked up at me once they noticed I was there. Of course Aiden had already known but he was to busy watching the others to acknowledge me.

"Hey mom, here's a shovel." Aiden said tossing me a shovel. Catching it faster then what was humanly possible I smirked at him playfully.

"You mean after working all day you're going to make me work again without even a kiss?" I asked him pouting causing the younger ones to giggle.

Yep, after all I've been working all day to and no ones bothered to give me a kiss or even a hug." He shook his head sadly but was smiling all the same.

I looked a the younger ones and smiled mischievously. All of them were there except for Caleb who was still brushing one of the horses. Bending down I motioned for them to come closer which they all did some more wary then others. They knew that the look on my face meant.

"You know what I think? I think we should give Aiden some hugs and kisses, ok?" They all nodded excitedly. "On three we attack him....ready, one, two, THREE!" Like bullets shot from a gun they all turned and ran straight for their oldest brother. As they plowed into him he let himself fall to the ground so as not to hurt them. Giggles and laughter filled the air as they rolled on top of him, hugging, kissing, and trying to tickle him.

I looked over to Caleb and felt my happiness dampen a little. He had stopped brushing the horse and was staring at his siblings with a wistful expression on his face. Once again I realized how isolated my youngest boy was and the worst part about that isolation was that a part of him yearned for what he knew he could never have. He saw the world to uniquely to be able to have the same innocence that the others did, even Aiden who was to mature for his age.

Perhaps it was my gaze or my sudden change in emotions but he turned to look at me and for the briefest of moments as our eyes met I saw in him a lost little boy who couldn't ask me for help because he knew that I didn't know how to help him. It was one of the worst feelings knowing you could not help your own child and fearing for them if they did not get the help that they needed. But then the blanket fell back over his eyes and he smiled at me before returning to his brushing. This time though he was whispering in a language that I could not understand and I knew as the horse turned its head and nudged him gently that he was speaking to it.

"Your turn mommy, your turn!" Yelled Makayla happily. I turned back to look at them and smiled unable to stop myself. The five of them were sitting on various part of Aiden as he stared at me with pleading eyes.

I walked over to him and bent down placing on purpose two wet kisses on both his cheeks. I heard him mutter darkly but I was unable to make out what he said for he said it on vampire low.

"Now Aiden anytime you feel you need for a hug or a kiss just tell someone and we'll be happy to let you know you're loved." I told him in an overly dramatic therapist voice. Earning even more giggles and a roll of the eyes from Aiden.

"Loved, yeah how about tortured? Now can we all get off of Aiden and get back to work so we're not out here until tomorrow morning." With a nod from me they all climbed off him, some more reluctantly then others.

A slight noise stopped me in my tracks. There were five pairs of feet running swiftly towards us. By the sound of them they were still a good few hundreds of yards away but with vampire speed that could be quickly overcome in a matter of seconds. And whoever they were they were definitely Vampires they were running to fast to be even werewolves and their smell was distinctly vampire.

I turned to meet Aiden's eyes for a second panic filling both our eyes before we snapped out of it. Without saying a word and only motioning for everyone to be quiet I led them to a small alcove in the barn where a trap door was, The cellar area was meant as storage but for now it would hide my kids. I ushered them quickly down in to the black hole and while I had no problem seeing in the dark I knew that the majority of my kids couldn't.

I looked around for Caleb and noticed that in the short few seconds he had managed to get all of the horses into the same pasture and the same went for the rest of the animals. I knew he wouldn't get in the cellar he would rather die then seek safety while his sisters and brothers (the animals) were left to fend for themselves. He gave me one last look before he joined his animals in the pen and I knew that if the danger got to high he would let the animals out and hope they would be able to make it on there own.

I shut the cellar door and Aiden stepped on top of it fading into the shadows like the natural hunter he was do to his DNA. I ran out of the barn and across the lawn to the driveway. Positioning my body in front of the barn I resisted the urge to crouch instead I merely stood there ready for anything. I would die and take as many as I could down with me before I'd let them have my kids.

Then they were there not even two minutes after I heard their first footsteps. I felt my eyes widen in shock as I stared into the five faces of my past.

A/N with only one more chapter to go in a World of Darkness I decided to post this. Now this will be a Jasper and Bella story. And Edward is not a nice guy in this at all. So if you don't like this story is not for you. But if you are intrigued, interested, or anything of that nature please tell me so in a review. I love them they're what keeps me writing.

Also the only story of mine that is on hold is the story They Never Knew. Every other one will be updated but some will be updated more quickly then others. And NO story is being abandoned. Just thought I'd let everyone know.


	2. Chapter 2:A Woman's Past

_**And now I'm glad I didn't know the way  
it all would end, the way it all would go.  
Our lives are better left to chance. I  
could have missed all the pain but I'd  
have had to miss the dance.**_  
~Garth Brooks, The Dance

I stared at the people I never thought I would see again. The Cullens all looked the same. Carlisle and Esme in their classic beauty and the aura that rolled off them marking them as the leaders. Rosalie and Emmett had changed from their modern way of dressing. Jasper was still enigmatic. His face gave nothing away but there was a kindness in his eyes that made you feel at ease. I wondered for a moment if he always been so good looking. Of course the Cullens had always been stunning but Jasper was breathtaking but I quickly pushed those thoughts away. I was not going to get involved with another Cullen and besides I had six kids to take care of. I didn't have the time or the freedom to be having such thoughts.

"Why are you here?" I asked carefully. Trying to keep my voice cold but not managing it as my fear betrayed me. I worried that Edward might have joined back up with them and that he might to be here hiding. There was a secret about me and Edward's relationship. A secret that no one had known and that I had been to afraid to tell. For he had threatened me and with his Vampire abilities what hope had I had as the human girl.

"We smelled vampires along with your scent so we decided to come and investigate. Because for one if there were vampires here we wanted to let them know that we were only passing through and two if the scent that we smelled really was yours we wanted a chance to see our daughter again." Carlisle said softly. At the mention of being one of their daughters I couldn't help but feel a lump grow in my throat.

Carlisle and Esme had become my second set of parents and in a lot of ways my only set. I had left more then Charlie and Renee behind I had left a whole other family behind as well.

"Well you found both. Is Edward with you." I asked. Fear and anger was plainly heard in my voice and I noticed their looks of shock at the sound.

"We haven't seen him since the day before you left. Why?" I let out a sigh. Relief spreading through my limbs. They hadn't seen him since the day that it had happened.

"Because that would be a very bad thing indeed if he was here with you. It would be a very bad thing for everyone." I knew my answer was vague and that they would want to know what I meant. I knew that I should have kept my mouth shut but something told me that they weren't about to leave now that they had found me. And I couldn't leave my kids in the cellar indefinitely.

"Are you being vague on purpose Bella?" Emmett asked laughing.

"Its Isabella now and yes and no." I shrugged but held my ground looking all of them in the eye, never wavering.

"Again with the vague thing." Emmett teased. A part of me was glad that he hadn't changed and that he was still my big brother. But another part of me wished that he and the rest of his family could have stayed in the past and have been nothing more then a memory.

The trill of a bird caught my attention and I knew what it was asking for it was no bird at all. It was Caleb asking if it was safe to let the little ones out. I knew there would be no going back after this I only could hope that they would listen before they made their own conclusions.

"Mommy?" Called the soft voice of Jayden. Turning around I saw her head peaking out from inside the barn while Aiden stood a few feet in front of her, nearly blocking her from view. I could tell from the look on his face he knew who these people were and he wasn't happy about them being here at all. His lips were in a thin line and his eyes were ice. I groaned inwardly it was just my luck that on the day my past shows up my oldest son decided to embraces his overly protective macho side of himself. I could not blame him though we were his family and in his mind these people had hurt one of his family members. A crime that could not be forgiven.

"It ok Baby. You can come out." I told her softly. My voice caring over the distance to her weaker hearing ears. I heard shuffling and whispers and within seconds Jayden, Akira, Aaron, and Makayla came to stand behind Aiden. I noticed Makayla had tears in her eyes and I felt my heart clench.

"Isabella?" The question was unmistakable in Carlisle's voice and in the air that hung from the air heavily coating everything and everyone.

"Perhaps this would be better discussed inside." I told them firmly, my voice allowing for no argument.

"Come on inside and to your rooms." Aiden told the younger ones gently as he pushed, the ones who looked like they were about to reply, softly towards the house.

He glared at the Cullens for a minute before turning to me with a look of pure anger, confusion, and hurt. Guilt rushed through me.....I always saw him as a an adult because of the way he handled the responsibility he had being the oldest and the two that could help keep the family above water. But that look reminded me once more that he was just a kid. A kid who saw the world differently because of how fast he had aged and what that aging meant. But a kid nonetheless.

Before I could speak he was already inside the house and the yes of the Cullens were burning into my back. Turning back to them I nodded softly towards the house and began walking up to the home that had been my haven since I left these people and their world behind six years earlier.

There was no sight of my kids as I walked into the living room from the front door. From the sounds coming fromt he upstairs I could tell they were in Aiden's room.

The living room was a plain white walls and there was only soem older couches and one rocking chair. I felt a tingle of embarrassment spread through me fore I knew what type of living arrangements they were used to and this was noting like it. Looking back at the Cullens I didn't let them see my embarrassment as I looked Carlisle in the eye and I felt my shoulders relax slightly as he smiled.

Glancing at the other Cullens I saw Emmett and Rosalie looking a the obvious signs of the children that lived here. Toys, and bags littered one corner of the room where everyone threw all their stuff. Esme and Jasper were looking at the walls that were covered in pictures some of which were in frames but most were not, merely being taped up there. Esme was glancing at them all with a small smile that seemed bittersweet to me alighting her face. While Jasper merely stared at one picture that was of the seven of us in it. He looked at if her were trying to memorize every detail from it, from our homemade tie dye shirts to our huge smiles that radiated happiness and love.

"Please sit down." They did so, though Rosalie looked a bit reluctant although for her credit tried to hide it.

"So what happened back then? One day Edward's gone the next so are you which left us in a pretty tight bind......"Emmett trailed off but I knew what he meant. It could look no other way but suspicious that both Edward and myself disappeared around the same time. I almost felt bad for leaving until I remembered why I had left.

"Well, you probably won't believe a lot of this because its your son I'm going to being telling you about. A part of your son I'm sure you don't know about. When I first started dating him it was exactly as it seemed. I was as love struck as a seventeen year old can be and Edward was the perfect gentleman. But I'm sure you know that Edward also had a temper, right?" They all looked confused but they all nodded as well. They couldn't deny it Edward was famous for two things his temper and his stubbornness.

"Well, he also had a jealous side that he couldn't and sometimes didn't want to control. At first when guys would flirt or talk to me he would put a hand on my back and glare before leading me away. It was a little to possessive for my tastes but understandable and just a quirk that I figured he had. I was in love with him and so I could find logic in everything he did, some type of reason no matter how twisted that logic or reason was. Then it became a hand on my arm forcefully yanking me away, then just little remarks about how Jessica was a little slut and that I was starting to act like her.

Of course he never hit me at his full strength or else I wouldn't have lived but he did hit me enough to draw blood and bruises just not in any place you could see. And if he did leave them in places that could be seen I used the oldest excuse in the book, I fell, and me being the Klutz I was could get away with it without anyone suspecting.

He kept getting more violent more unpredictable and yet there were times when he was still the same sweet caring gentleman he had been in the beginning. And I loved him, I truly think I did, not in the be with you forever kind of love but the type that you don't really see as doomed from the beginning but is already marked to fail within the very things that make the both of you up. It was because I loved him that I didn't tell and that reason turned into fear...." I trailed off taking in their looks.

Esme Looked heartbroken and as I caught her eye she gasped softly something in my eyes told her that I wasn't making any of it up. Carlisle looked every kind of devastated but he to seemed to recognize something in my face that showed that I was telling the truth. Rosalie looked sickened and I knew that if tears could fall from her eyes they would be. I felt the lump in my throat grow that she would cry for the human girl she used to not be able to stand. Of course I was no longer a human and no longer posed that threat. Emmett no longer had a smile on his face his features cold and stoic and that perhaps to me was the biggest sign of how hard they were taking this.

With a heavy heart I faced Jasper knowing he felt everything in this room. That he felt the anger, the sadness from everyone and from me the shame. I had long ago stopped wallowing in self pity, I had long ago stopped blaming myself. What was done was done and it had led me to my kids and for that no matter how much it destroyed the old me and everything I had, had, it had given me my kids. And that was the greatest gift I could have ever been given.

Jasper was looking at me with a mixture of deep rooted sadness and....respect. Where the last one came from I wasn't sure their was nothing respectful about what had happed to me.

"Why did it turn to fear only then?" Carlisle it seemed was the only one able to form a coherent sentence though he to barely managed as he had to choke out the words.

"Because it was then that through my love struck haze that a few things became clear, One being that he no longer seemed to care whether I lived or died when he got violent. Something had changed in his eyes. Two I realized there was nothing I cold do about it. I couldn't fight against him nto a mere human girl, nor could my father, a mere human man. And the law would mean nothing to a being who has the srength to not only break it but to destroy it utterly. As for you all well who were you more like ly to belive the man you had known for the last 80 some years or the human girl you'd only known for about one year? I knew who you'd believe and I can't blame you for that. He 's your son and brother I was merely his plaything. I understand that now and have for quite sometime." I finished my story with a sad smile on my face.

Before my mind was able to comprehend and what was almost to fast for even my eyes Esme had her arms around me, hugging me to her fiercely. I couldn't help but tense, it had been a long time since someone other then my children had hugged me but at the same time it was the hug of a mother. Which was something I had so desperately wanted and more then a little needed. Slowly I relaxed as she whispered nonsense words in my ear.

"Isabella, you look at me right now Edward Cullen may have been our son and family, and you have no idea how much I wish I could change that right now, You are also our daughter and sister. You have a place in this family and I was so lost when I found out two of my children were gone and now to know that it was my own son that drove my daughter away tears me apart. But know that it wasn't your fault you did nothing wrong. You did not deserve what he did to you." She had pulled back so she was looking me in the eyes. A ferocity had replaced the kind motherly feel that I had always thought of when I looked at her eyes. And a thought floored me into shock for a second. I realized she was not talking to me as a mother to her daughter but as a former battered woman to another formerly beaten woman. We were the same. And I was her daughter. I smiled softly at the thought, It had been a long time since I had, had a mother.

"Isabella," I turned towards Jasper to find him looking at me with an expression I couldn't quite place. "When you slept with Edward it wasn't consensual was it?" Gasps filled the room but Jasper remained calm looking. But I sensed in him an anger and hatred boiling up inside of him but he was squashing it back down. I understood this because it was the same thing Caleb did.

"I only slept with him once and no it wasn't consensual." MY voice sounded brittle and yet strong. Like an old tree that creaks to much but does not break.

My words caused an eruption Rosalie began cussing in every language she apparently knew, while Esme merely sat down on the floor head in her hands as her shoulders shook. Carlisle merely glanced at me before walking over to his wife and holding her, his face contorted in agony. Emmett merely walked to the window as silent as a graveyard at night. I saw Jaspers hands clench and anger flash through his eyes but he just sat there. Chaos churning inside of him and not for the first time was i glad that I didn't have the empathic ability. For the more I dealt with it, it seemed more like a curse then a gift.

A small whimper of a child brought us out of our anger filled grief. Turning around faster then what I usually could I saw Caleb standing there tears running down his face. But they were not normal water tears they were blood tears. Caleb cried blood when he got upset. I felt horror well up inside me as I stared at him blood was dripping from all ten of his fingers from in between his finger nail and finger. His White socks were red as I knew blood was coming from his toes in the same fashion as his finger nails. Blood ran down the side of his face from his ears as blood poured softly but constantly from his nose covering his lips crimson.

Then after only a few seconds he was turned and was out the door faster then what should have been possible for a human boy. But a wind was battering the house and had somehow managed to get inside. I knew that, that was what gave him his speed, the wind.

"What happened to him?" Esme asked sounding as horror filled as I felt.

"Caleb, is an Empath but also an earth speaker meaning he can talk to the trees, rocks, animals but he can also feel their emotions the same with humans. But he doesn't know how to control his ability when it comes to human emotions. They overwhelm him and because no one can usually see the pain and anger that he feels he bleeds to show everyone that hurt and anger." Standing up I started towards the door but had only taken a two steps before I felt a gentle but firm hand on my shoulder. Looking backwards I saw Jasper looking at me understandingly.

"Let me go and talk to him, please?" I nodded without knowing why I trusted him to go and take care of perhaps my most fragile and yet strongest son.

Without another word I walked back over to the couch and sank down into the cushions. An exhaustion that I had, had for to long lifted just a bit though it had no reason to. Suddenly a hand covered mine and looking to my right I saw the hand belonged to Rosalie. It was at that moment when are eyes met that I remembered her past and how it to was like my own.

A/N WOW! to everyone who reviewed never have I gotten that big of a response before to a chapter let alone the first chapter. Thank you so much!!!!! Hope you like this chapter. Next chapter will be a conversation between Jasper and Caleb along with the other Cullens meeting the rest of the kids. Please Review!!!


	3. Chapter 3: Just Like You

A/N There is a part in this chapter and will be in other chapters that Caleb speaks in animal or plant languages. Now EVERYONE don't freak out. At the end of each chapter I will have Translations. Caleb's horse language will be in **_bold italics_** while the horse's will be in **bold. **Thank You!

_I see a boy who's frightened,  
__a young boy with old eyes. I long  
__to say you're welcome here, you  
__can be happy now that you're warm.  
_~One World ~ Celtic Woman.

Caleb's POV

Everything was red, I was covered crimson with pain I could not express in any other way. I hated people and I hated hating people. Their emotions were so much more complicated and hurtful. Sadness hurt, anger hurt, happiness hurt. I hated my gift and yet I didn't, I just wanted it to go away, but then once again I didn't. To have the pain leave to not have to bleed crimson, that was what I wished for.

Mom always cried when she thinks I can't see. I hurt her without meaning to. I make her tired, I burden her when she still got so many other burdens to carry. I try to stay away to not let her no the pain that eats at me. Like a biting cold that burns the bones, like a fire that destroys every bit of forest there is. But I miss my brothers and sisters, people I have never really met. I've talked to them but only for a few minutes and then I leave again. These new people caused my mother sadness, guilt, anger, shame, happiness, they made me hurt.

That's something that no in this world knows. Everything hurts, to the point that the world is dying. Most humans do not know this but there are a few and the numbers are growing that know to some extent the damage humans are causing. I knew that if they didn't wake up soon the race of humans would end. Already the animals of this world were becoming restless unexplainable attacks against humans. I wasn't sure how I knew it but I did. Perhaps it was in the way that the wind spoke to me, in the way that the trees sung that endless lament that had been passed down through generations each generation adding a new part to the lament to tell what had happened during their life.

The farther I got away from the house the more the bleeding eased up and as I walked into the barn the blood flow stopped and a peace fell over me.

**Keta, shaiek tekie?** Looking over to the stall that held Sayka the only horse that was a completely colored solid. Her mane was black, her coat was black, her eyes were black and some in town had said that even her soul was black. I knew it to be wrong she was merely wild and only stayed because she wished to.

**"_Swoshn selmin deyi_. _IIti deyi_"** I whispered as I walked numbly over to her stall, slid open the latch and walked in. No one else would have dared do it in fact no one went around her except for me. She injure or kill anyone who tried and I could not blame her, she hated people for their ignorance just as I hated them for their emotions.

Sayka bumped me with her nose causing me to fall down at her feet before stamping her hoof slightly.

**Yocar Nei deyi! Neimor deyi!** Horses cannot yell but they can raise their voice levels to a certain degree. I winced at her words, not believing them and yet wanting to.

The emotions from the house were still to strong and my head began to ache once more despite being in my refuge. The barn was always my safe haven the place where no came without asking me first. So that is perhaps why I did not recognize the sound of footsteps at first. Whoever it was radiated a calm energy and yet also and understanding. I did not understand my anger only knew this person was understood nothing.

"Hey, Caleb you in there?" It was one of the new people. The ones that had caused the pain, the ones who had made me hurt.

"Go away." I tried to yell but only managed a mumble as my own emotions began turning against me. Chaotic thoughts whirled around in my mind, flashes of color, images of things already past, things that were not always seen through my eyes.

"Caleb, listen to me, listen to my voice." The pain was consuming me and once more blood began pouring. A sob tore at my throat as the pain blinded me. The man wanted me to listen, I didn't want him here but I didn't want to be left alone. Fear coursed through my body and I knew only a part of it was mine.

Arms were around me within seconds as I began coughing on the blood that was now streaming from my mouth. I couldn't speak, my heart beat painfully fast in my chest, an my head felt as if it had already exploded.

"Shhh Listen to my voice Caleb. I'll help you." Jasper's voce was calm but there was a panic had settled into his eyes as he held the withering boy in his arms.

"I-it-it hu-hur-hurts." I managed to whimper through he pain filled haze.

"I know it does. Just breathe. Listen to me and I'll make the hurt go away. I'll make the hurt go away." I trusted him on that but I did not know why. I focused on his voice telling me it was ok. To block everything else out, to lock it up ina box and hide the key.

I listened and slowly the pain went away and i noticed something odd. The wind had stopped, the natural sounds and movements of the world were silent and still. It was as if everything was holding a breath. With a sigh I knew that they were holding it for me. Clearing their thoughts and feelings away so as not to have that extra weight pushing me as I was trying to get back into control.

"I'm okay." I mumbled as I tried to sit up only to moan as dizziness hit. A gentle hand pushed me gently back down. Looking up I saw the man with blond hair was the one holding me. A small soft smile on his face. as he ran fingers through my hair.

I wasn't used to human contact as I had always stayed away from it in order to keep away the pain. I had never given my mother a hug or a kiss, I had never wrestled with my brothers or sisters. In fact I had never been touched by a human being since I had learned how to walk, which had been when I was a year old. The action felt good and I found myself leaning into it. Burying my head into the man stomach I sighed.

I didn't know who he was or why I felt safe or why the fact that being so close to a person wasn't causing the same flood of emotions inside of me like everyone else did but I found that I liked it. I wondered if this was what my siblings felt like when they were hugged by our mother, safe and warm.

"Who are you?" I asked him quietly. The world had started to breathe again.

"Jasper Whitlock." He told me softly his words no more then a whisper.

"Caleb Swan." I replied to him though he already knew my name.

"Nice to meet you." He said before standing up, me still tucked firmly into his arms.

_**Kie, Sayka** _I whispered and just as I was carried from the barn I heard her reply

**Gkie, Keta.** Darkness was edging its way in and for once I let it claim me while in the presence of another person.

******************

Jasper's POV

The boy in my arms was one of the most fragile living thing I had ever held in all of my life. I had felt many things during my existence, I had seen many things but nothing more heartbreaking then watching the boy in my arms cry and scream in pain from things he could not escape. Empathy was a tricky gift to have and even at moments I struggled to see it as a gift. It left you isolated from everyone because you got to have a unique prospective of the world and its inhabitants.

Caleb had a strength inside him that I knew I myself didn't have. A strength to carry on despite his obvious isolation and pain. And was this boy in pain. Pain perhaps wasn't the right word more like agony. From the very first second we had arrived I had felt the agony, the suffocating feeling but had not seen who it belonged to.

I looked at his face and sighed. Little white patches showed in erratic places because dried and wet blood covered his face. Just as blood covered his hands, his feet, and his shirt. Walking into the house that brought up feelings in me that I had never felt before. The house was nothing spectacular and you could tell by the furnishings in the living room that there wasn't a lot of money for decorative touches. And yet as I glanced at the pictures on the wall i couldn't help but think that this family had more then what I had ever had.

After the day that Isabella had left things with the family had gone south. Rosalie and Emmett left to go to one of the homes that they owned to get away from all the high running emotions. Alice and me had drifted apart over the years and by the time Isabella had come along we were really no more then friends masquerading as lovers. She had decided to leave when she met a nomadic vampire named Chris. She was in love with him and he was with her and I could see no other reason to argue against the relationship and so with hugs and a kiss to the cheek. In the end for over three years it was only Carlisle, Esme, and me left in the coven and then one day three years later Rosalie and Emmett came back.

Looking around the living room I saw my family along with Isabella and a boy who looked to be about 14 staring back at me. The 14 year old merely stared at Caleb who's face was facing them. A wave of failure hit me from the 14 year old and I felt a pull towards him but shook it off. I could focus only on one right now and that was the little boy in my arms that needed a bath.

"If you don't mind can I go get him cleaned up?" I asked Isabella who was staring at me and Caleb in confusion. As if she wasn't sure I was really holding him. She nodded slightly.

"The bathroom is up the stairs second door to the left. the towels and wash cloths are in the bottom drawer." Her voice was shaky but a fire was in her eyes that I had never seen before in that year of knowing her. Then again six years was a long time, I had changed and so it wasn't a far leap to believe she had either.

I nodded before walking up the flight of steps and quickly finding the bathroom. With One arm supporting Caleb I turned on the taps of the bathtub with one hand. Waiting about five minutes for the bath water to reach a few degrees above luke warm I set him down in it. With a start he woke up looking around wildly.

"Its okay, its okay. You're okay. I just want to get some of this blood off you." I told him gently as he stared up at me with wide eyes.

He tried to reach for the wash cloth in my hand but found he was to weak to lift his own hand. With a frustrated scowl he closed his eyes and waited.

"You lost to much blood, that's why you're so weak." I said as I gently began rubbing his back clean of sweat and stray debris.

"Why are you helping me?" His voice was so young, so innocent, so haunted.

"Why wouldn't I? You need help and I know how to help you." I washed his feet and legs but when i tried to wash his face he turned his head away from me.

"How can you help me? No one else can." Guarded was the only word that could describe his voice and the emotions rolling off of him. All his emotions were leaking through but only leaking not rolling out wave upon wave as they should have been.

"Would you believe me if I told you I'm just like you? That I know about the pain, the agony of people's emotions. The overwhelming panic when you can't control them anymore." He turned to stare at me disbelief shinning in his eyes along with hope.

"You really know?" I nodded. "And you'll help?" Once again I nodded and something happened that i did not believe possible, he smiled. Caleb's smile was a something that I could not easily put into words, it spoke of untainted innocence, and a loss of said innocence but more importantly it spoke of hope. It was a smile that made you want to smile and laugh for there was such joy in it.

When I moved to wash his face again he stopped smiling and closed his eyes, tensing as he allowed me to wash off his face.

After his bath was done and the pinkish water had been drained I wrapped him up in a towel and let him lead me to his room. Helping him get dressed into pajama's couldn't help but marvel at how natural this felt and then scolding myself for having such a thought and feeling.

Many people didn't know this in fact no did but I had always longed for children, to be a father, but back when I was human their had been a war going on and fatherhood was pushed far away and then i was changed and it became out of the question. But being here if even for only a few hours had caused that longing to come back even more pronounced and painful But I made sure to put it in a box and lock it away while near Caleb.

Caleb laid down to go to sleep and I pulled the covers up to his chin and felt a smile tug at my lips as a few of his curled locks of hair fell into his eyes. I moved to get up and leave but a hesitant hand on mine stopped me. the pressure of the hand was barely a whisper against my sensitive skin. The uncertainty of it reminded me of someone who was not used to contact and therefore did not know how to really use it.

"Please stay. It doesn't hurt as much when you're here. You make the bad things go away." He told me in a voice that was much younger then him and yet I knew that was just another side to him. In so many ways he was still so young, in others he was his exact age, and in some he was decades older.

"I'll stay until you go to sleep and then I have to go back to tell your mom you're okay. Alright?" I told him gently. He looked frightened for a minute before nodding slowly. With a sigh I sat down beside him running hand through his hair as she curled over and within second fell asleep. With a sigh I let myself stay there for thirty more minutes before deciding to head down back to the living room. Where my family waited along with a worried mother. And a boy who for some reason felt responsible.

_We're all apart of this world  
we can all share the same dream  
and if you just reach out to me  
then you will find deep down inside  
I'm just like you.  
~_One World, Celtic Woman

A/N Here's another chapter. Next chapter will be back in Bella's POV. I know I said The family would meet the kids but this chapter ended up having a mind of its own.

TRANSLATIONS:::::::

1:Keta= Little one.

2:Shaiek tekie= What is wrong?

3:Swoshn selmin deyi= They are wrong.

4: IIti deyi=I am wrong

5: Yocar nei deyi= you are not wrong

6: Neimor deyi= you have never been wrong/you will never be wrong (means both int his instance.)

7: Kie=night

8: Gkie= Goodnight


	4. Chapter 4: Protecting the Little Ones

A/N There will be words that are spelled completely wrong and some of them not really recognizable. I saying this so I don't get reviews saying I need a beta or at the very least a spell checker. The words are messed up on purpose and at the end of the chapter I'll have a few translations.

Chapter Four: Protecting the Little Ones

I heard Jasper descending the stairs before I actually saw him, I was sitting on the couch between Esme and Rosalie while being told everything that had happened since I had left. Alice and Jasper had mutually parted ways and while Alice left to go with a man named Chris; Jasper had decided to stay with the coven that had become his family. They had moved twice, once to Maine and the other to Alaska.

I was still puzzled over the way Jasper was able to hold Caleb so easily. Every time I had tried to hug him, or even put a single hand on him he'd run away blood pouring from his nose and mouth. It was a mothers worst nightmare to know that her very touch caused her child pain and that she was completely helpless to stop said pain. Perhaps it was the fact that Jasper was an empathic and so was Caleb. Whatever it was I was glad for it if not a little jealous of the contact he could have with my son.

His presence made the small hairs on the back of my neck stand up as the nerve endings in my whole body began to tingle. I shook myself slightly as he came into view. His hair fell gently into his eyes and there was a peace but a curiosity that burned in them. From the corner of my eye I saw Aiden tense as he stared at Jasper whom he saw as more of a threat then anyone else. Why that was I wasn't sure but I knew I would have to watch him, Aiden had a notorious temper and could easily make someone's life hell. I also knew that if he did cause trouble for any of the Cullen's the others would follow for they looked up to their older brother and to them his thoughts and actions were law. I sometimes wondered who they would listen to if it ever became between him and me.

"He's asleep right now. A little weak to much blood loss but Carlisle you can check him out if you want to. But you'll have to be careful or we'll have a repeat performance."

"The poor boy, has he ever bled that much before?" Esme asked me with worried eyes. I looked at her my worry and relief warring against each other plain for all of them to see.

"No, never." My voice broke and inwardly I cursed at that show of weakness.

"He's ok, I promise. He'll be fine." I looked over at Jasper who was smiling softly a look of utter seriousness shining from his eyes. I nodded believing his words both because of the way he had said them and the peaceful sound of Caleb's deep sleep.

Minutes passed as we all stared at one another in silence, each one of us more unwilling to break it. And then the silence was broken by the sound of small feet padding down the stairs, slowly, cautiously. Turning I waited holding a breath I didn't need as every step brought the rest of my children closer to meeting the Cullen's. I wasn't sure how I should feel about that except that it made me feel uneasy and yet hopeful.

A part of me hoped and dreamed that my family would take to my old family as quickly as I had. I had never known if they would ever meet and yet if on down the road that day cam, I had hoped. I never thought that day would come but come it had and now that I was here another part of me was coming up with scenarios that were less then pleasant.

Akira was the first one to reach the bottom of the steps and that was no surprise, she was the second in command when it came to leading her siblings. Her nose was held loftily in the air and as she stared past me and at the Cullen's I felt her sizing them up. Mild contempt and disdain filled her features until her eyes landed on Rosalie. Without hesitation she made her way over to the blonde beauty an air of superiority hanging around her. Stopping a little less then a foot in front of Rosalie she simply stared at her. No emotion crossing her face just a hardness. Then a small smiled turned the corners of her mouth upward as she held out her hand to Rosalie. Rosalie looked at the offered hand before taking it gently into her own.

"My name is Akira. Its nice to meet you."

"I'm Rosalie and it's a pleasure." I let out the breath I had been holding as Rosalie smiled at my oldest little girl.

I saw Aaron step forward a mischievous smile on his face. Without even the slightest of pause he walked over to Emmett. They didn't say a word to each other merely grinned and I felt myself let out another sigh. I should have known that the pranksters would be able to sniff each other out.

Jayden walked over to Carlisle and Esme with a small smile on her face. She stopped about half a foot in front of them. She held out her hand to Carlisle first.

"Hi, I'm Jayden." Carlisle took her small hand into his much larger one and smiled softly back at her.

"Hello Jayden, My name is Carlisle, this is my wife Esme." Esme smiled at the girl with an ease that only a mother could have.

I sighed as Jayden, Aaron, and Akira were brought into conversation with each of their chosen Cullen's. I heard the thump, thump, thump, thump, and thump before I saw it. Looking I saw my youngest holding her head slightly as she laid in a heap on the floor.

"I'm otay, I'm otay." Her childlike voice was unable to pronounce C's or K's or her 'R's. Makayla stood up unsteadily and looked around at the Cullen's with wide eyes as they stared at her with small smiles. She made a beeline for me but tripped over her own feet and fell again hitting Jasper's leg.

"Owwie." Was all she whispered as she gingerly rubbed her head and looked up. Upon seeing the leg her eyes got even bigger as the continued up until they met Jasper's face. Giving a little squeak she scrambled to her feet only to trip again but was saved from more bruises by Jasper.

"You ok?" His voice was low and kind. I could actually see the gentleness pouring from him as he helped steady her on her feet.

"Yeah, that happens a lot." Jasper's soft smile would have made my heart stop beating if it had still been working.

"You should be more careful." He told her a playful reproach in his voice. Makayla blushed and giggled.

"I am taweful. It's the floows fault." I felt a smile tug at my lips remembering the times when I had used that same excuse growing up.

"That's funny I remember you mother saying the exact same thing!" Emmett called out before laughing. His laughter booming out causing Makayla to jump and scoot closer to Jasper. Who merely opened his arms wider to wrap around her small frame.

"Its ok. Emmett won't hurt you he's just really loud." Jasper assured her as he rubbed small soothing circles on her back. She relaxed completely while nodding, her bottom lip still pouched out in a pout.

"You mean lite Aawon?" Her voice was so innocent and the small chuckles of the Cullen's seemed to confuse her more.

"Well, I'm not sure is Aaron loud a lot?" Jasper asked looking up for a brief second to send a brief smile and a wink my way. Makayla nodded quickly her eyes wide as she pulled back to look at Jasper.

"Weally loud. He put fiwe twatews in a pile of pots and pans and let 'em go off while we wewe asleep. Mommy got weally mad but she saw Atiwa yelling at him weally, weally loud and she stawted laughing." By the end of her story her hands were flailing about to emphasize her points. Jasper kept his face straight as he listened and from the way his eyes took in her every movement I could tell he was actually listening.

That surprised me not many took the time to listen to a seemingly five year old to tell a story and those that did rarely took any extra time trying to figure out what she had said. Though it seemed today was a day of surprises that centered around Jasper Whitlock and my kids. It wasn't bad surprises though and therefore I wouldn't complain but it did leave me with much to ponder on.

"Well, that wasn't nice was it." Jasper asked a grin adorning his lips. Makayla shook her head no.

"But it was funny." She whispered as if she were passing some secret that no else could her. Aaron was smiling as Emmett looked at him with a hint of respect in his eyes. I inwardly groaned a the look knowing the trouble that could be caused from having those two together in one house. It would be like putting Dynamite and a lit match in the same space. Only instead of blowing themselves up along with everyone else it would only be everyone else.

"Mommy, why is Taleb sleeping?" Her voice was little as she slipped through Jaspers arms and walked over to me avoiding everyone of the other Cullen's as if they were the plague bent on only infecting her.

He had a hard time today baby." I told her softly brushing her brown haired locks out of her face and behind her ear.

"Did they huwt him?" She looked back at the Cullen's who were all staring at us including my other kids.

"Oh, no baby, they didn't hurt him." I said trying to reassure her against the guilt in my stomach.

"Mom, stop lying to her. She may be the youngest but she's not dumb and she deserves to know the truth." I glared at my son trying to communicate to him that now was not the time.

"Don't you dare say I was lying to her. They didn't hurt him." My voice was calm but deathly low .

"To hell they did and so did we. They might not have meant to just as we didn't but they did and we did. No reason to sugar coat that fact." I sighed arguments like this weren't rare. And as time went on they had gotten more and more frequent and I was at a loss as to how to stop them.

"Watch your mouth before I have to wash it out. I didn't want to scare her, there's no reason for her to be upset not when its already over." I struggled to keep my voice from rising having long forgotten that the Cullen's were there.

"You didn't want to scare her? She's a lot tougher then you give her credit for and a lot smarter too. What you didn't want her crying over spilt milk? Just because its already spilled doesn't mean there still isn't a mess or that it won't be spilled again. You can't hide her away from everything forever. In fact you've hid her from very little despite you best efforts." He stopped yelling as soon as I opened my mouth.

"Yeah because you tell her everything. She's a little girl. She doesn't need to know the dirty details of the problems everyone faces in this family." I was not yelling back at him no longer remembering that he was my son.

"She's a little girl? Yeah well so is Akira and Jayden. Caleb, Aaron are little boys to Mom but they get to know the dirty details. Why because they have to live with it? Aaron has to deal with the fact that if he slips in his control he could kill everyone of us by amplifying the slightest noise.

"Jayden has to deal with being teased at school because she is so much smarter then everyone else in her class including most of her teachers.

"Akira has to deal with the fact that everyone in town along with her classmates call her every name under the sun that would have Satan himself cringing.

"Aaron who gets so afraid for his brothers and sisters that he does everything in his power to make them laugh or to stop thinking about their problems.

"Caleb who can't even be a part of this family because our very feelings could kill him; has to deal with the fact that he knows nothing about his family and they know absolutely nothing about him. Caleb who has deeper relationships with horses, trees and rocks then his own mother. Caleb who tries so hard to protect his mother from his feelings.

"And Makayla who has to deal with being made fun of because she talks differently. Who is the only one who knows anything about Caleb because she's the only one able to block off her emotions enough to talk to him, to help him while he bleeds and holds him when he cries. Makayla who gives Jayden encouragement when she's having problems figuring something out,. Makayla who listens to Akira's problems and Jayden's problems, and Aaron's problems, and on occasion yours too. Who else do you think called me the day that you went into your two week trance after a neighbor asked where our father was. Who do you think helped finish and create the paintings that were sold that helped keep everyone here warm.? Makayla, mom that's who.

"So don't you dare say she's a little girl who needs to be spared the details because if she needs to be spared them so do the rest of them because their just as young. No one can be protected in this house mom no matter how much we might wish we could protect one another. So stop trying to skate around the truth on telling everything to her. She's big girl she can handle herself." By the time he was done we were standing within inches of each other.

A cough broke us apart and it was at that instant that I remembered that we had company. I looked to see Aiden looked unsurprised and I realized he had never forgotten that they hadn't been alone.

"Should we go? We'll come back at another time." Carlisle asked cautiously.

"Stay, please." I whispered at the same time as Aiden said.

"Go." I raised an eyebrow at him and he just shrugged his eyes defiant.

Looking around I noticed that from Caleb's room their was no longer any noise of breath and Makayla was no longer within the house or within a mile of the house and nor was Caleb.

"Where are they?" I asked frantically.

"He took her to calm her down." Aiden sighed as he began to walk to the front door.

"Well, go find them its not safe for them out there." I told him worry clouding my logic of that statement.

"You never tell me to find Caleb when its midnight and storming outside. You never say its to dangerous then. Caleb will bring Makayla home safe when she feels like coming home. And I won't drag her back here a moment before." His voice was calm and cold.

"Then stay here because we have company." I told him through gritted teeth wondering when everything had gone so wrong. When I had lost Aiden's respect as a mother and when he had come to know more about my on children then I did.

"Their you damn past you deal with them." Before I could reply the door had slammed shut effectively putting an end to any conversation. I watched as one by one my kids stood up said goodbyes to the Cullen they had been talking to and left out the door their oldest brother had just slammed. They had chosen who they were standing behind in this fight and despite the fact that, that choice never changed the pain of it never lessened.

I looked up to see the Cullen's were staring at me in shock except for Jasper who had a sad grim expression on his. If I had been human I would have been blushing crimson red so much was my embarrassment and shame.

"I'm sorry about that." My words were greeted with silence and not for the first itme in my life did I wish for the ability to cry.

****************

"I--I h--ha-hate it w-when t-th-they fi-fight l-lite that." Makayla's voice was broken up into disjointed pieces as sobs wracked her body. Caleb simply sat there holding her rocking back and forth. He pushed away the pain as her emotions washed over him again causing more blood to run down his nose.

"I know. I know. So do I. But Aiden's right you might be pint sized but you can't be protected from what you already know so much of." Caleb told her softly as the trees around then swayed gently from side to side. To Makayla it sounded like whispers, like leaves blowing in a breeze, like trees creaking in the wind. To Caleb it was voices all signing the same song. He began to sing it out loud in human so as to calm his still crying sister.

"Sister, daughter, here us call...let  
Your pain fall away as our leaves  
do in the fall. they've lost their way  
They are out in the wind. They don't mean  
The hurtful things they say. Rest your head  
Go to bed tomorrow starts another day.  
Sister daughter, here us call…"

Makayla had long gotten used to the song for it was the same as it always was when she got upset due to Aiden and their mother's fighting. And by the time the song had ended Makayla was sleeping peacefully her cheeks still glistening with two tear trails.

Caleb sat back against an old Oak before closing his eyes. He had stood vigil over his sister and in turn the trees, and the animals would stand vigil over him. They would allow him to sleep without fear fore they would warn him if danger was near.

A/N So here's the fourth chapter and to everyone who reads my other stories or reads my NEWS on my bio already knows this but to those that don't….my apologies for this being so late. I had this chapter completed and was going to post it when I got home from school but when I tried to turn on my computer it had fried.

TRANSLATIONS:::::

Twatews= Crackers

Fiwe= Fire

Atiwa=Akira

Taleb=Caleb

Wewe=were

Aawon= Aaron

Otay= Okay

So hope you like this chapter as this time you get to see more of the family problems.

Please review!!!!


	5. Chapter 5:Mistakes

_The mistakes we make as a child lead us to the mistakes we live as an adult. And when we're on our death bed and we look back at life if we have at least learned something in all the mistakes we've made in life then we will have not made that final mistake before death. The mistake of ignorance._

_**By me. **_

Life is made of many mistakes in fact I had once heard that life was just one big ball of mistakes. What one person would call a mistake could lead to another persons triumph which follows to another persons mistake. It made sense for in my life I seemed to make more mistakes then I got things right. I had never thought about having kids I was to worried about taking care of my mother and father. The same mother and father I hadn't been in contact with for years. I hadn't wanted to be like my mother and have a child at so young an age, I hadn't wanted to make that same mistake.

My mother had always insisted that she never considered me a mistake though she admitted that she wished the timing could have been different if she would have been graced with the same child. I had never believed her until my own kids had arrived. I loved them all, and would not trade them for anything in the world even on the worst of our days but I wished that the timing could have been different. Could have been when I was less of a kid and more of an adult but the fates loved to laugh at wishes and plans. Like to play games with those that like to make them. I could understand that to a degree even the fates needed to get their kicks.

"A penny for your thoughts." I jumped slightly startled by the sound of the voice. Turning away from the window I had been staring at I saw Jasper coming to stand beside me. I shook my head slightly more to clear it; then as an answer.

"I'm not sure their even worth that much." I whispered as I stared back out the window. The night of the fight between Aiden and me had passed by in silence the Cullen's had left for the night and as the morning had dawned I was still as confused as I always was after a fight occurred between us.

"I would still like to know them." He prodded gently. I turned to stare at him suspiciously causing him to laugh quietly.

"Please." Was all he said though despite his obvious amusement. Sighing I nodded.

"I was thinking about how I hadn't ever thought about having kids and then suddenly I was a mother. Funny how life works. I keep thinking about every choice I've made since the night before Edward left. I make sure that I bring enough money in to have a paycheck and no its not a lot but it keeps them clothed and fed. I make sure we have what we need for a garden each year and that we have food for the winter. I sing them to sleep, I make their meals. And I love doing it. I love being a mother. I just don't think I've ever done enough." My voice was sad and forlorn as I stared out the window the five kids out playing in the front yard.

Caleb had brought Makayla home safely and asleep her hair the usual tangled mess it was when she got upset. I felt guilt at that as I felt guilt about a lot of things. Caleb didn't say a word as he had walked through our front door, Jasper, Esme, Carlisle, and me waiting for them to return home. He hadn't spared us a glance as he carried his baby sister up the stairs bridal style. With quick and nimble feet he maneuvered the steps and obstacles on them never once hesitating showing a confidence that I had never seen him have within the house.

I followed him as Jasper followed me and as we reached Makayla's shared room we both witnessed Caleb placing her gently on her bed. He kissed her on her forehead and brushed away the stubborn brown lock of hair that always fell into her face. The look on his face was one so gentle, so caring, so loving that I felt a pain in my chest for it was so pure and the thoughts that I had been thinking of him earlier no longer fit the boy I was seeing.

I had always known he would do nothing to harm his family but in a lot of ways they were the youngest of the family and the weakest in my eyes. One could barely stand without injuring herself in someway and the other exiled himself away from humans because he could not control his ability enough to be around them. A part of me feared that a part of Caleb had gone wild as well…..as wild as the animals he spoke to.

He had walked out of her room at a slow sedated pace and as he passed by us a grim look over came his features. When he looked at me his eyes showed a disappointment, and a hurt that was not physical, and a loss that was both recent and old. Somehow through his telling eyes I knew that I was responsible for the things I found within in them . Or at least partly responsible. Then he looked over at Jasper and a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips and then he was gone down the stairs and the sound of the door closing let me know that he was gone out of the house and off to where ever he stayed at night.

I had tried to figure out the mystery of where he slept as I also knew Aiden had as well. But it seemed as if he always slept in different places and I often wondered if it was so as not to be found by the animals that roamed the land or if it was to not to be found by us, his family.

"I believe you don't give yourself the credit you deserve. Your children love you and you have done well in raising them. I just believe Aiden is confused." I snorted rolling my eyes.

"I don't think you understand….yeah I bring in money but not enough to be able to pay for everything. I use the money that the man who lived here gave to me to feed the animals and pay for the heat and other necessities. I make sure to buy the seeds for the food only to have Caleb and Aiden take care of the garden. I help make meals but so does Aiden, I sing them to sleep but some nights, most nights Aiden has to take my place. Caleb takes care of the animals and only sometimes do we clean the barn together. I work during the day meaning Aiden has to take care of everyone during the day. When their at school and one of them has a problem they take Aiden out of class because I don't have a phone to be contacted with.

"Aiden, helps keep the kids entertained and he also disciplines when he needs to and I've taken advantage of that. When I'm busy and one of the younger ones have a problem with something or each other I send them to him, to sort everything out.

"I go between fearing for Caleb and fearing for the rest of us because of him. I love those animals out there I do. I wouldn't have been able to go through my pregnancy without them. But between trying to make enough money and keeping everything we've got from being taken, and making sure there's food for everyone I forget about them. I take for granted and advantage of the fact that he loves animals so passionately. That he sees them more as his family then as he does us. Because I know I never have to worry about them being taken care of.

"And its like Aiden said last night I don't know anything about them except for their favorite foods, the stories they like to hear, some of the subjects they like. I know something's but I can't help but wonder if perhaps its my fault that I know so little and Aiden knows so much….." My words trailed off and if I could blush I would have because I had not meant to have said all that I had. I hadn't meant to divulge the deepest worries of my soul.

I hadn't wanted anyone to know that I feared that in trying to keep them safe, warm and fed that I forgotten about things more important.

From the corner of my eyes I saw Jasper raise his hand and felt it as he laid it on my shoulder. Giving it a gentle squeezed I fought the urge to sigh and lean into his chest as he came to stand right behind me.

We both turned to stare out the window and watched the kids play Tag. Aiden it seemed was the one running from the others who had apparently taken on the role of the one who does the tagging. Aiden's face was completely carefree as he laughed and ran and danced just out of reach of his siblings. He didn't have the worry lines he had, had the nigh before. Nor was their anger in his eyes. He was in that moment their older brother nothing else and it was in that moment that my heart eased just a bit.

"Thank you." I whispered to Jasper as I pulled away reluctantly. "Where's everyone else." I asked as I began to pick up the toys the little ones had scattered everywhere while playing. Putting them back in and old oak chest I turned to look at him only to find that he was no longer at the window but was picking up the toys I hadn't been able to carry due to the amount that the kids had drug out.

With a shy smile I moved aside to allow him to dump his arm full of toys into the chest.

" Their at one of our houses in Montana. Though Esme and Rosalie wanted to know if you would be interested in going shopping. And I'll say this their shopping sprees are much healthier compared to Alice's." There was amusement in Jasper's voice and I found my self chuckling softly.

"I would but I have to stay here with the kids. School starts back up in a week and I want to spend as much time with them as I can." True regret was in my voice for I wanted nothing more then to go out with Esme and Rosalie. To both of whom I felt keen connectedness.

"That's ok. I'm sure they'd be willing to wait. After all they said they wanted it to be your treat. And though they didn't say it you don't necessarily have to go shopping for clothes or shoes or anything else that you hated shopping for." Humor still laced his voice but serious sincerity was at the forefront.

"Then you can tell them that sounds great." With a sigh I walked outside and laughed at the sight that greeted me.

Aaron had gotten the water hose and begun spraying everyone while they were distracted by their game. Akira was hysterical to the point that she couldn't say a word, Jayden was just staring at the water droplets that were on the top of her skin, Aiden was laughing standing well out of reach of he flow of water, while Makayla giggled and ran in and out of the stream of water.

Aiden looked away from his siblings and caught my eye a wide grin overcoming his face. Pure unadulterated happiness shown through his eyes and then his eyes moved to Jasper who was standing behind me and all happy expression melted from his face within the span of a vampire's blinking eye. His face transformed to anger, hate, sadness before settling down into an unfeeling mask of stone. His features were chiseled into impassive planes that showed in those few seconds that he was not human.

I wasn't sure why he so hated Jasper the way he apparently did. But there was no denying it was hate. A hate fueled by zero trust and all the reasons to not trust him rolled into no reason at all.

"Mommy!" Makayla screamed as she stood underneath the water looking at me. Her nose scrunched up in a grin and childish giggles slipped through her lips.

"Aaron, turn the water off please." I called over to him causing him to look at me with a roguish grin making me raise an eyebrow. With a mournful sigh he dropped the hose and began slowly jogging back to the water spicket. Though with him taking his time, more then likely trying to give his siblings time to cause more havoc, his hopes were answered. Makayla picked up the hose and closed her eyes tight hunched down and then pointed the hose, with water still streaming out of it, right at her face.

She squealed shrilly openly laughing until water found its way into her open mouth causing her to cough. As soon as the fist cough escaped her mouth the water began lessening and by the time the third one had escaped the water was completely turned off and the hose had dropped from her hand. By the second cough I was by her side and rubbing her back gently as her small frame was wracked by violent coughs.

When the coughs finally subsided she looked up at me with wide scared eyes and I wasn't sure if the tears in her eyes were purely from the coughing fit or from her fear. I figured it was both but mainly fear as her lip began to quiver. Leaning on my knees I gently brought her into my arms and began rocking her gently.

"You scared yourself didn't you baby girl?" She nodded softly as she sniffled. "Its ok. You're ok." I whispered over and over again in a calming mantra. Aaron walked over like a whipped puppy with its tail between its legs.

"I'm sorry sissy. I'm sorry." He hugged her from behind burying his face into her hair.

"Its ok bub, you didn't do anything. It was an accident." I told him wiping the lone tear that had made its way down his flushed cheek. He nodded sadly his head still hanging down in shame. I placed a finger under his chin and gently lifted his face up until I could see his eyes. "Its ok. She's fine." I saw the disbelief in in his eyes as he looked at me. And I wondered when he had grown so much as to not believe what I was telling him.

"I'm otay, brother. I'm otay." Makayla turned around in my arms wrapping her small ones around her brother in a bear like imitation. He grunted a little at the strength she was applying to the hug. I caught a glimpse of a relieved grin on his face as he turned his head into the curve of her neck; his face covered by her hair. He wrapped his arms around her just as tightly. And they swayed like that for a minute before the gentle comforting swaying turned into a game of who could stay up the longest while knocking the other one down.

"Alright you to that's enough we wouldn't want either of you to get hurt now would we?" They pulled away with grins on their faces and shook their heads. I heard the subtle intake of breath from behind me and knew that Jasper had seen Makayla's smile. Her smile though as innocent as any child's was Edward's smile. As crooked as his had been and just as charming.

When she noticed that we were both staring at her or staring at her mouth she stopped smiling and walked over to Aiden and lifted her arms up. He gently picked her and as she laid her head on his chest he kissed the top of her head.

We all slowly began to walk into the house and with Akira chatting about school starting back again and how she didn't want it to with Jayden interjecting about how she did want it to start. I didn't see Jasper fall behind. I didn't see him notice Makayla waving past him as he took up the rear. I didn't see him turn to see who or what she was waving at. And so I didn't see the small figure standing on one of the fence boards looking our way at our group. Like a silent guard who watches over the kingdom, a Sheppard who watches his sheep. I didn't see Caleb raise a small hand and wave slightly to Jasper before turning away and walking out into the open field with a brown horse named Clover. And because I didn't turn around I never saw the small but genuine smile Caleb gave to jasper as he hopped onto Clover's back. But Jasper did.

A/N I know their isn't a whole lot happening in this chapter and I promise next chapter will be in Aiden's point of view so we can understand what's going on through his head.

Also there are a few things that are crucial to the story and some of them are only mentioned once. In thoughts or out loud. If you don't know what they are Message meand I'll tell you. If you think you know them tell me.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while I've been trying to get ready for the Foreign exchange student that's coming, plus I procrastinated my summer homework to the very last few days of summer. So please forgive me once again.


	6. Chapter 6:Widening River

I often wonder why I always ended up fighting with my mother when it was the second worst thing I hated to ever do. Then I would remember why…that my mother was an amazing woman and a loving mom. But a single working mother and so her life was dedicated to work and the worries of having enough money to go around. There was no earthly way that she would ever be able to make enough to feed seven mouths buying the food from a store and so she bought us the seeds and Caleb grew them. In fact she made sure we had the money to get what we needed but we did everything else. The everything else was mainly left to my shoulders though I never doubt nor forget what my youngest brother does for us on a daily bases. She was the financial worker I was the family man.

We went to her for money but the kids came to me because of bad dreams, bullies, skinned up knees, things they would usually go to a mother or father for. But our mother was to busy trying to keep the roof we had over our heads and our father was better off staying away…if he valued his already half dead life. And so that left me the next oldest in our family. The lines of where I stood within the family and what role I played have always been blurred. That was why mom and me fought I had always played the roles of a brother, father, son, and husband. And she saw me some days as that husband like figure who had her back when it came to the kids. While other days I played the part of her son…..and a brother to my siblings. It depended on who she wanted me to be. She sometimes forgot that I had those two jobs just like I sometimes grew confused on which one she needed to see.

Now though they were back the ones that had caused my mother so much of her pain. The ones who had abandoned her. Who had left her hung up to dry after proclaiming that she was their newest daughter or sister. I didn't trust any of them and I trusted The Whitlock guy even less. I had heard his thoughts as he talked to my mom and I saw the way he looked at her. It would be to easy for my mother to fall in love with a man like him; full of charisma and understanding. But he had left her once and though back then they hadn't been close I knew that his disappearance had hurt her just as much as the others.

I used to amuse myself in the darkest reaches of the night when I was left to my own devices, by dreaming of a world where a real man came into our lives and treated my mom with the love and respect she deserved. A man who didn't care who's children we were biologically but loved us just the same as if we were his own. I could easily see that man being someone like Jasper and that scared me more then anything. I knew nothing about the man not really and so to have fantasies as dangerous as these was asking for trouble. Plus, my pride was hurt and my heart ached because I was the man of the house. It was my responsibility to take care of the family. To try and lessen the burden on my mother, But it always seemed that no matter where I turned I was messing up causing her more stress and blurring the lines of which role I was supposed to be and when I was supposed to be it.

Though I had noticed that Whitlock seemed to be able to help Caleb some and for that reason I hope that he stayed around long enough to help him. My littlest brother had to long been apart of the wild and though I knew he had a heart of gold and a well compassion for all living things…I wondered if ever there would come day when he would forsake the life he had never been able to be a part of. I dreaded that day if ever it came because I knew that would be the day that I would have to willingly let my brother leave…..I would have to say goodbye to a man in a boy's skin whom I had not only come to love but respect as well. I prayed that, that day would never come while knowing that if nothing changed it would came, and come swiftly.

Makayla also seemed to have taken a liking to Whitlock and worried me to. She was so young and yet so old. She knew the family secrets and yet very few knew hers. The only one that was most noticeable was her want of a father. I had oftn heard her pray for a "daddy" that would tuck her in at night and help her learn to play a sport. And though I knew that I wasn't a father and that I didn't want to be one, or at least not one yet. It hurt to know that she wanted another man to tuck her in and teach her games because that was my job. A job that I had designated for myself and one that she had willingly and readily let me keep.

I sighed as I stopped at the very edge of our property which had a fence running along it. I bowed my head as I leaned against the fence. My hands clasped out in front of me. It wasn't often I prayed and I didn't then but I did hope and wish that someone anyone would give me a clue as to how I was supposed to deal with all fo the sudden happenings.

"Its not often I see you out here." I looked up slowly as Caleb's voice washed over my ears. To few times had I heard his voice is my life. Every time I did though I counted all my lucky stars.

"I needed some air….the Cullens are at the house." I told him not glancing back the way I had come.

"I know. I saw them arrive." Caleb's voice was an odd thing. It was soft and yet was strong. It was as faint as a breeze on a breezeless day and yet carried about a room as if it road on the wings of a hurricane. His voice held power and yet at most points it stuttered and made mistake in grammar and pronunciation.

"You always do seem to know who's coming and going." I stated…..he already knew this and so did I. But what's else was there to say?

"The earth and her children tell me." I had never really asked what the world sounded like but if the world of humans was anything to go by and the noise that they alone generated…..I had no doubts that the world Caleb lived in was a lot nosier then I would ever be able to imagine.

"I hear things Aiden, things that both bring me sadness and joy. I hear songs of change coming. I feel the pages of what our lives have been so far turning. I see the leaves of our fruits dying. Change is coming Aiden and not all of it will be good. You must chose one." Caleb had given me cryptic messages before but nothing so lengthy and nothing that made his voice flow with a wild urgency of a river at its rapids.

"Could you be a little more specific?" I had never doubted his messages though every time he gave me one I found myself once again frustrated to no end for their true meaning was always veiled.

"You know I can't because I don't even know the true meaning of the message. Just know that all good ends and all bad ends. And within the bad good will come and from the good the bad will come." With a sign Caleb glanced down the way I had come and though it was a long way away the house was still visible. And the sounds of children's laughter as our siblings played drifted to our ears.

"Go back and be with your family….they need you. Mother will need you. And you will need him. Give the young ones a kiss for me and a hug. And tell Makayla that the river does widen as fast as the eagle flies. She'll understand." He turned away from me after giving me a half smile an action that I realized with much shock seemed to confuse him. The action was foreign to him. I tried to ignore the pang in my heart and the churning in my gut. Just as I ignored his comment of needing "him".

"Caleb, we're your family too." I told him. Concerned that he had called it my family not our family. He turned back to me his eyes filled with tears as the wind began to blow gently and the birds all hushed into silence.

"I know." With those two words I felt the earth around me shatter. Despite his words I saw the truth in his eyes. He knew we were family but we were a family he could never have not like anyone else would be able to. And so we also weren't family. Our worlds were to different the river was to wide and despite the fact that my brother was friends with the wind and I could run faster then a speeding car the river was widening to fast to ever make any true ground in crossing it to one side or the other.

Before I could open my mouth to reply after getting my mind somewhat wrapped around what he had said he was already gone. Disappearing into the tree line of the forest leaving little to no trace that he was there. The only true marking that he had ever been their was a single blonde strand of hair that had gotten caught on the fence post.

Walking home I felt a sadness that I had never felt before. I had just said a goodbye to my brother and I wasn't sure when or if I would see him again. But when had it ever been different? But then again he had never said goodbye before either.

The young ones continued playing except for Makayla who watched my every move since she had noticed me walking back. Her eyes were expectant and I knew that she knew that I had talked to Caleb though I was unsure as to how she knew.

"He wanted me to tell you that "yes the river widens as quickly as the eagle flies." Before all of the words were out of my mouth an odd sad sort of smile graced her small lips as she sighed. It seemed that the words did not hold the same dread and sadness for her as they did for me.

I looked around the yard and saw the Cullens and mom talking quietly off to the side in front of the house. While the young ones ran about the front and side yards. They didn't notice me as I walked back inside the house closing the door on the wild. Not wanting to face the family that I felt slipping through my fingers.

A/N I hope this clears up some of the of the ill feelings towards Aiden. Please review and tell me what you think.


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